Mark Chung has always played well in August. During his MLS career he has tallied 17 goals and added 12 assists during the month, a fair percentage of his lifetime totals. Add that to a hot San Jose Earthquakes team and that equals success.
The Quakes made their second and final visit to Salt Lake this season and needed only a great strike from Chung to come away with three points in a 1-0 win. But it wasn't the play of just one player that led to the Quakes road win, it was a team effort -- as it has been all season.
"I give the credit to the guys who have been playing great," said Earthquakes coach Dominic Kinnear. "Sometimes it's hard to play on the road. Here with the heat, turf, altitude -- but they just keep on playing.
"We approach the game the same way. We wanted to pressure them high and make sure they don't feel comfortable on the ball."
From the opening whistle the Quakes pressured Real Salt Lake. Every time an RSL player received the ball there was a white shirt in his face. The pressure nearly paid off very early, as Alejandro Moreno's shot rocked the post in the 11th minute.
Chung's strike came in the 41st minute from a corner kick. The ball came to Wade Barrett, and the San Jose captain played to Chung out wide, where he only had one defender to beat.
"I had [Paul] Broome one-on-one and I did a couple stepovers to lose him and then I hit the ball near post," said Chung.
Real threw everything forward in the second half. In the 60th minute Adolfo Gregorio, in his RSL debut, had a dangerous header on the back post of a Robert Scarlett free kick. Quakes 'keeper Pat Onstad was right in front of Gregorio to keep the clean sheet.
Barrett admitted it might not have been the most attractive game, but the team effort created the win.
"Tonight was a lot of hard work on our part," said Barrett. "Probably wasn't the prettiest game ... but the guys battled hard for 90 minutes. Up until the very end of the game you see Alejandro (Moreno) and Brian Mullan pressuring hard on that end. On the opposite end you see Danny Califf making a great play in the end blocking a shot.
"There is always someone that steps up on this team. That's what it was tonight. It was fantastic play, just hard work," Barrett said.
Scott McAllister is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
